Zynga today revealed it filed an Application for a Preliminary Find of Suitability with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. This takes the social gaming giant one step closer to engaging in real-money gaming here in the United States, but that goal is still a ways off.

The application means the Control Board will examine the application, which will take somewhere between 12 to 18 months to complete. If the application is approved, we’re told it will take another two to three months for Zynga to actually implement real-money gaming within their titles; meaning we’re at least a year and a half away from seeing these changes implemented.

As we’ve mentioned before, real-money gaming is still largely illegal here in the U.S., though certain states have made iGaming possible via mobile apps provided they’re playing within state borders (which is guaranteed via hardware geolocation). Earlier this year, Nevada began accepting applications that allowed online poker to be played within the state.

This is only one part of Zynga’s plans to implement real-money elements in its games. Earlier this year, the company announced it was partnering with bwin.party to offer poker and casino games in the U.K. and Europe.

In a statement, Zynga’s Chief Revenue Officer Barry Cottle said, “As we’ve said previously, the broader U.S. market is an opportunity that’s further out on the horizon based on legislative developments, but we are preparing for a regulated market. We’ve also recently partnered with bwin.party to bring the highest quality real money gaming experiences to our UK players in the first half of 2013.”